I recently read an account on BBC News of David Cameron’s speech yesterday at Christ Church Cathredral, Oxford, on the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible.

It’s good to see him speaking of his own faith and how he sees Christianity benefitting people in the UK generally, and not just those who see themselves as Christians.

In particular, he said, “Moral neutrality or passive tolerance just isn’t going to cut it any more… Let me be clear: I am not in any way saying that to have another faith – or
no faith – is somehow wrong… I am also incredibly proud that Britain is home to many different faith communities, who do so much to make our country stronger… But what I am saying is that the Bible has helped to give Britain a set of values and morals which make Britain what it is today… it is easier for people to believe and practise other
faiths when Britain has confidence in its Christian identity… Many people tell me it is much easier to be Jewish or Muslim here in Britain than it is in a secular country like France… because the tolerance that Christianity demands of our society provides
greater space for other religious faiths too. And because many of the values of a Christian country are shared by people of all faiths and indeed by people of no faith at all.”

Sometimes I find myself reading about how Christians have a hard time in Britain or elsewhere, or about how militant Islam is not always kind to other faiths.

Here’s some interesting balance to the arguments. A recent study shows that it’s not easy being religious in the UK – that the UK is not top of the list of those countries who allow freedom of religion.

Good of Rowan to build awareness that the effect of political change in the Middle East (the Arab Spring) benefits some but often not the Christian minorities there.

“The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams says the unrest in the Middle East has made life “simply unsustainable” for many Christians who are leaving their homes.” – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13766009

It is interesting to set these two articles alongside one another, and wonder whether the behaviour that we decry in the UK is just lawlessness, incited, or to do with a clash of religious or other values.

“Gang of nine Asian men arrested for ‘grooming white teenage girls for sex’.
A gang of Asian men has been arrested over claims they plied more than a dozen underage white girls with drink and drugs before turning them into sex slaves. The vulnerable girls – some as young as 13 – say they were forced to work the streets as prostitutes and hand over money to the men. The nine men – eight of them Asian – were questioned by detectives after officers swooped on a number of addresses.” From the Daily Mail in the UK 11th January 2011.

‘Last week witnessed popular Muslim preacher Abu Ishaq al-Huwaini boast about how Islam allows Muslims to buy and sell conquered infidel women, so that “When I want a sex-slave, I go to the market and pick whichever female I desire and buy her.” ‘ From Middle East Forum June 6th 2011 quoting the Kuwait Times.